Russ Cowley says Great Britain’s World Championship (Division 1B) victory was the perfect way to end his playing days.

GB defeated Japan 4-0 to secure promotion on a memorable night in Belfast and Cowley admitted it was a special occasion.

“This is an amazing way to end my hockey career,” he said.

“I’ve had so many successes as a player, but this ranks up there with the best nights of my career. Tonight is the icing the cake – it was our best performance of the week by far and to win here with a big home crowd was special.”

Cowley scored in the opening win over Estonia and signs off after sixteen seasons and over 900 professional games.

Netminder Ben Bowns believes previous disappointments spurred GB on to the gold medal this time around.

Having narrowly missed out on promotion over the past two years, GB secured their place in Division 1A with five wins out five this week.

“It is an amazing moment to win gold and I’m proud of everyone – we’ve had such a great week and to win the gold on home ice is magical,” said Bowns.

“It’s a moment that will live with us all for a long, long time. We played one of the best games of our careers out there and Japan could not cope with us.

“After the disappointment of two silver medals, we were not going to let it happen a third time.

“It’s fantastic to achieve this with such an amazing group of players.”

(Image permission: Dean Woolley)